Click on pretty meat picture for larger badass version.
Yay, we’re in an even numbered year. Thank goodness, you don’t know how happy that makes me. You just can’t lose in an even numbered year. It’s like making sad music with a banjo, you just can’t do it. The meaty picture above was from a little meat fest Meathenge Labs hosted on the 26th of December of last year. We did pork spare ribs, baby back ribs and a juicy flank steak. Oh my!
Oh my is right, forgot to buy onion powder. Never been a fan of the garlic powder, but I do love my onion powder. What’s my go-to rub going to be without its key ingredient? Pah, I dunno.
4 parts Paprika
2 parts chile powder
1 part salt
2 part oregano
1.5 parts or less of celery seeds
1 or 2 parts cumin seeds, toasted (whiz oregano, celery seeds and cumin seeds together)
1 or 2 parts white/black pepper
1 part cayenne powder
and a little more salt!
Ribs got rubbed. Flank got marinated with the above rub doused with orange juice. Grilled indirectly with applewood charcoal and cherry wood branches for smoky love. Serve with ice cold Schlitz and a few sides.
Here’s a pretty photograph of the last sunset of 2007. Goodbye you craggy ol’ bastard, smell ya later.

Most certainly click on image for larger one, hey.
Biggles

Can you see the dragon?
It was a few weeks ago when Steve of CajunGrocer.com emailed me and asked if Meathenge would like a turducken. I’m thinkin’, “A turducken for ‘review’? A review copy of a turducken? Sheet yeah I do!”
I have a book and a water filtration system in the wings for a review, but this bird wasn’t going to wait. It was thawing and needed attention and I’m just the caring soul who’s ready and willing. And speaking of willing, let’s talk a moment about shilling. Yup, that’s right. I know many of us non-professional writers/bloggers are pretty cagey when it comes to accepting free stuff. Let’s see what the dictionary has to say about it.
1. To act as a shill for (a deceitful enterprise).
2. To lure (a person) into a swindle.
This my good people, is not what I’m up to. Let’s move on, shall we?

Continue reading →

There are 2 kinds of grocery shoppers, 1 makes a list and gets what they need. The other (me) makes no list and winds up with a cart full of what he didn’t necessarily expect to buy. This is a lot of fun and I enjoy it each time. The downside is that I forgot to purchase soap for the shower twice now. It’s kinda funny to scrapple through the bathroom cabinet searching for those lost bars of soap that one might get as gifts from 10 years ago. You know the ones, nasty smelling, in the shape of a monkey or cat. Yeah, those. I fight the good fight.
I hadn’t planned on purchasing that little rack of baby pork ribs, I did though. And a day later? I’m sooooo glad I did. I was able to try out a curry based dry rub I’d had in the wings here for quite some time. No really, a long, long, long time.
Come along my pals and we’ll get a glimpse of a nice Wednesday evening meal.

Continue reading →

I just knew this last Saturday, that Sunday morning I’d fire up the smoker and get that 5 pound picnic portion of a pork roast in there. I wanted a pull-apart roast with my go-to rub. This grass fed fancy roast needed the best and I was just the Biggles for the job.
Yeah well, after 8 hours of smoking, I’d had enough and pulled it. I could tell it wasn’t ready, it needed another 4 hous in there. I got a late start in the day and it was time. That was okay, I’d figure it out tomorrow. There’s always tomorrow.
And figure it out I did, all in about 10 minutes.

Continue reading →

Please take note that my Nikon D70 has taken a nose dive and been sent off for repairs. So until further notice, these images were taken with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 950.

Damn you to hell Mr. Neighbor Man and your nasty ass fluid, cheap crumbly briquettes and non-seasoned chicken pieces. And how dare you hit me with such vial smells just as I get home on a warm September’s eve. While I had planned something ovenny with my whole natural chicken, you sir have forced me in to action. I’m going to totally kick your ass in startup fire smell, grilling smell and finishing smell. And I’m going to do it right now! Prepare for thine beating.

Continue reading →

Ever since I took delivery of the fancy charcoal last week, we’ve grilled and smoked nearly every day. I’ve still got about 280 pounds, so I need to keep up my head of steam, ya know. Besides, what I don’t use will have to be dragged off to the garage before the winter rains set in. And that my good friend, is work. Don’t need none of that, sir.
Because of such a grilling frenzy I’ve been poking about looking for a sauce I haven’t tried yet or would like to reinvent for myself. I came up with this one. Come have a gander and see what you think.

Continue reading →

There are so many wonderful ways to cook pork. This is one of the many reasons pork and I get along so damned well. I used to be a pain in the ass purist and would beat any passers by in to my figurin’ that pork spare ribs needed to be smoked for approximately 5 hours before they were ‘correct’ or edible. Now I’m just a pain in the ass that enjoys good food. And I have to say that after Saturday’s grilled pork rib meal, both Mama and I enjoyed great food. However, it just doesn’t happen by mistake. There are a few finer points that needed to be adhered to so your meat makes your teeth smile.
Interested?

Continue reading →

I have several friends that have the name Paul. One drives to Oregon for bacon and one I’ve known since 2nd grade. Let’s call him Uncle Paul, mmm kay?
Uncle Paul has recently purchased a home near Dittmer’s Wurst Haus. 2 weeks ago the boys and I drove down and helped him move the large items, umph. We had a great time checking out the new digs and later in the day we did some cold beers with grilled tasty pork. No time for poor Dittmer.
“What to do !?! What to do !?” cried the engineer.

Continue reading →

Ah, what’s in the smoker right now? A 7 pound lamb leg. Bone removed and butterflyed open. Stuffed with extra virgin, s&p, fresh cilantro, toasted corriander & cumin seeds, special spices (curry like), fresh crushed garlic and lemon zest. Reinstall bone, tie up roast and put way down in the smoker for hours.
This is what it looks like right now. As it happens. You’re seeing it. No lie.
xo

Ah yes, the July 4th grilling holiday. Oh sure we have Memorial Day as well, but you have to admit, there’s something about July 4th that just screams mesquited meat nuptials. As with Thanksgiving Day meals, this day brings out the home chef that may be better off attending someone else’s party. Oh no, not you. You figure you can handle it. How tough could it be? All you have to do is prepare/season/marinade the meat, build & maintain a fire, cook to perfection and serve. What could possibly go wrong?

Continue reading →

Here is this week’s batch of bacon. We noticed last week it was a tad salty, Taylor thought so as well. So, he did up a different mix on the cure and here we have it. This right here? Is good bacon.

I remember back around 1998, during the early summer it was. I was out in the yard spending time with a grill that I no longer have. It was the best grill in the world, an old charbroiler. It had a rotisserie, access to the coals without opening the lid and cast iron cooking grates. But after 30 + years of service, it rusted out and that was pretty much that. It lived a good life in my yards over the years. I learned how to rotisserie pork ribs, chickens, turkeys, just about anything. Anyway, this was about 8 years ago and I laid my first piece of bacon on a grill. I know, I know, you’ve been doing it for years. Even so, it was a day that changed my life forever. You see, cooking bacon (indirectly of course) with a real wood fire delivers you flavors and textures you couldn’t possibly have dreamed of. It crumbles over beans, salads, vegetables, pasta and just about anything else you could think of. Or do what we did and just stand there eating it, piece by piece.
So, if you have the smoker or grill fired up, throw on some bacon and live the life. You’ll be glad you did.
Biggles
ps – Just in case you think you’re smart and quick and decide to cook the bacon directly, don’t. It’ll create a grease fire that’ll cause you a lot of grief and time. Plus it’ll ruin your bacon.

It was exactly 2 weeks ago when an email from Toponia rolled in. I noticed it just as the sun was going down on a nice spring evening. One of those evenings when the doors are open, windows are open and the neighborhood is so quiet all you can hear are the mosquito hawks knocking against the walls. Their smoker needed a new home, either mine or someone else’s, and we had barely 3 weeks to get it out. Did Meathenge Labs have the room? Was I willing to negotiate this 1200 pound beast out and through our citiy’s little streets? In a 1974 Ford pickup truck belching black smoke at every turn?

Continue reading →